Musk Says Twitter Accounts Impersonating Other People Must Include 'Parody' in Name Graph

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Twitter accounts impersonating other people from now on must include the word "parody" in the name graph of the accounts instead of the bio graph, US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said on Thursday, following the appearance of fake "verified" accounts parodying public figures after the launch of a new subscription.

"Going forward, accounts engaged in parody must include 'parody' in their name, not just in bio. To be more precise, accounts doing parody impersonations. Basically, tricking people is not ok," Musk tweeted.

Musk said in a series of posts that users who change their names without "clearly specifying 'parody' will be permanently suspended" from the platform without any warning.

Last week, Twitter launched a new subscription service for $7.99 a month that allowed users to verify their accounts with the blue check mark next to the account's name, prompting the appearance of a significant number of fake accounts with blue check marks.

Musk closed a $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter on October 28 after months of negotiations and legal disputes with the company about the number of fake accounts on the social media platform, which the entrepreneur believed was much higher than the company reported.